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| Eco housing Hemp Production Organic New menus Curriculum Banking Reform | 
Our precious planet Due to the current imposed conditions by human activity on the climate a diligent industriousness is now needed to ensure the bio diversity and life support for healthy ECO systems. A perfect back round and introduction of these facts has been provided by the story of stuff dot com. Quote-From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.- End Quote Visual presentation of the Facts. This brilliant factual assesment out lines how the average consumer does not know and or understand the toll the industry materials in us are taking on the planet and them selfs. Further facts confiming this are provided by doctors for the environment. Quote- Eco systems are the planets life support systems; they keep you and all other forms of life alive and healthy. To ensure our own health, we need to respect and care for our health of the living planet. By taking the following actions you will be contributing to the livelihood of every species on the planet- including you. Healthy Eco systems - Healthy people Our heath depends upon healthy eco systems to supply clean water, food, a stable climate timber, fibre , wood , and fuel. Food and agriculture Bio diversity plays a vital role in food production and good nutrition,healthy eco systems are maintained by a huge variety of species carrying out tasks which promote fertile and healthy soils, crop pollination, natural pest control, abundant fish and sea life. Natural waste management Healthy eco systems break down our wastes and recycle the left over nutrients. Infectious diseases healthy eco systems help regulate infections and prevent large out breaks of disease by keeping populations microorganisms and the species carrying them in balance. Medicines come from the living world More than half of the medicines prescribed by doctors are based on chemicals originating from plants, animals and microbes including anti biotics (from mould), anti cancer medicines and anti inflammatory like Aspirin and Paracetamol Extinctions Most scientist believe we are in a sixth major period of extinctions and that this is a result of human activities. The current rate of extinctions may even be more than 100 times greater than it was before the age of humans. Humans are accelerating loss of bio diversity by:Overpopulating the world, causing climate change, clearing native vegetation, polluting land and water, over hunting and over harvesting species, introducing feral plants and animals. For Example:Australia's foot print, an Australian’s foot print is the amount of productive land and water needed to provide all the resources you consume and take in all the waste you produce. If earth was divided equally there would only be 1.9 global hectares per person, yet the average Australian needs 7.7 global hectares. If every one lived like an Australian the public would need FOUR earths. How will the planet support the expected extra 3-6 billion people? However, we can reduce our foot print and still live well, by implementing the core balanced alternatives to what we currently are led to believe is the only viable, comfortable and economical option.-End quote Recent reports from news articles also reveal alarming facts: Meltdown in the Arctic is speeding up- Scientists warn that the North Pole could be free of ice in just five years' time instead of 60
Ice at the North Pole melted at an unprecedented rate last week, with leading scientists warning that the Arctic could be ice-free in summer by 2013.Satellite images show that ice caps started to disintegrate dramatically several days ago as storms over Alaska's Beaufort Sea began sucking streams of warm air into the Arctic. As a result, scientists say that the disappearance of sea ice at the North Pole could exceed last year's record loss. More than a million square kilometres melted over the summer of 2007 as global warming tightened its grip on the Arctic. But such destruction could now be matched, or even topped, this year.-Source "It seems unthinkable, but for the first time in human history, ice is on course to disappear entirely from the North Pole this year 2008." -Source Arctic ice melting at record rate From: Agence France-Presse December 13, 2007 ARCTIC ice at the North Pole melted at a record rate in the northern hemisphere summer, the latest sign that climate change has accelerated in recent years, climate scientists say. "In 2007, we had off the charts warming," Michael Steele, an oceanographer at the University of Washington, said at the 2007 meeting of the American Geophysical Union, where 15,000 researchers have gathered to discuss earthquakes, water resources, and climate change. It was an ominous summer for the Arctic region, where for the first time in recorded history, ships sailed across the Arctic Ocean in water that had been part of the polar icecap, said Donald Perovich of the US Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory in New Hampshire. -Source Quote- BEIJING, China (Reuters) -- Humans are stripping nature at an unprecedented rate and will need two planets' worth of natural resources every year by 2050 on current trends, the WWF conservation group said on Tuesday. Populations of many species, from fish to mammals, had fallen by about a third from 1970 to 2003 largely because of human threats such as pollution, clearing of forests and overfishing, the group also said in a two-yearly report. "For more than 20 years we have exceeded the earth's ability to support a consumptive lifestyle that is unsustainable and we cannot afford to continue down this path," WWF Director-General James Leape said, launching the WWF's 2006 Living Planet Report."If everyone around the world lived as those in America, we would need five planets to support us," Leape, an American, said in Beijing. People in the United Arab Emirates were placing most stress per capita on the planet ahead of those in the United States, Finland and Canada, the report said. Australia was also living well beyond its means. The average Australian used 6.6 "global" hectares to support their developed lifestyle, ranking behind the United States and Canada, but ahead of the United Kingdom, Russia, China and Japan. "If the rest of the world led the kind of lifestyles we do here in Australia, we would require three-and-a-half planets to provide the resources we use and to absorb the waste," said Greg Bourne, WWF-Australia chief executive officer. Everyone would have to change lifestyles -- cutting use of fossil fuels and improving management of everything from farming to fisheries."As countries work to improve the well-being of their people, they risk bypassing the goal of sustainability," said Leape, speaking in an energy-efficient building at Beijing's prestigious Tsinghua University. "It is inevitable that this disconnect will eventually limit the abilities of poor countries to develop and rich countries to maintain their prosperity," he added. The report said humans' "ecological footprint" -- the demand people place on the natural world -- was 25 percent greater than the planet's annual ability to provide everything from food to energy and recycle all human waste in 2003. In the previous report, the 2001 overshoot was 21 percent. "On current projections humanity, will be using two planets' worth of natural resources by 2050 -- if those resources have not run out by then," the latest report said. "People are turning resources into waste faster than nature can turn waste back into resources." Rising population "Humanity's footprint has more than tripled between 1961 and 2003," it said. Consumption has outpaced a surge in the world's population, to 6.5 billion from 3 billion in 1960. U.N. projections show a surge to 9 billion people around 2050. It said that the footprint from use of fossil fuels, whose heat-trapping emissions are widely blamed for pushing up world temperatures, was the fastest-growing cause of strain. Leape said China, home to a fifth of the world's population and whose economy is booming, was making the right move in pledging to reduce its energy consumption by 20 percent over the next five years. "Much will depend on the decisions made by China, India and other rapidly developing countries," he added. The WWF report also said that an index tracking 1,300 vertebrate species -- birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles and mammals -- showed that populations had fallen for most by about 30 percent because of factors including a loss of habitats to farms. Among species most under pressure included the swordfish and the South African Cape vulture. Those bucking the trend included rising populations of the Javan rhinoceros and the northern hairy-nosed wombat in Australia. -End quote Another recent report states the Arctic sea ice is retreating at such a rapid rate that north pole summers could be ice-free by 2040. New research published in an edition of geophysical research letters indicates that the next few decades could produce dramatic changes that will drastically change the ecology of the far north. The study was conducted by a team of scientists at the U.S. National Centre for Atmospheric Research, the University of Washington and McGill University, and funded by the National Science Foundation and NASA. The researchers analyzed the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on the Arctic, then ran scenarios through powerful computers that show the extent of sea ice each September. In those scenarios, the rate of sea ice reduction is so rapid that it could be retreating four times faster than any observed record within about 20 years. “These changes are surprisingly rapid.” The team first simulated fluctuations in ice cover since 1870, including the significant shrinkage recorded since 1979.They then simulated future ice loss, and found the Arctic was heading towards a critical point where the reduction in sea ice would create conditions that would further hasten the reduction of sea ice. In essence, says Dr. Holland, a positive feedback loop would spell the end of summer ice caps. “As the ice retreats, the ocean transports more heat to the Arctic and the open water absorbs more sunlight, further accelerating the rate of warming and leading to the loss of more ice,” Dr. Holland said. That would have dramatic implications for the entire Arctic region, she said. The model results indicate that, if greenhouse gases continue to build up in the atmosphere at the current rate, the Arctic's future ice cover will go through periods of relative stability before experiencing an abrupt retreat. In one model simulation, the September ice shrinks so much that, by 2040, only a small amount of perennial sea ice remains along the north coasts of Canada and Greenland, with most of the Arctic basin ice-free. The winter ice in that prediction also thins from about 12 feet thick to less than 3 feet. The research team points to several reasons for the abrupt loss of ice in a gradually warming world. Open water absorbs more sunlight than does ice, meaning that the growing regions of ice-free water will accelerate the warming trend. In addition, global climate change is expected to influence ocean circulations and drive warmer ocean currents into the Arctic. Reducing the amount of greenhouse gas in the environment could slow that process, Dr. Holland said. While summer ice would still retreat, she said the rate would be much slower. We are on the On the brink of climate disaster. GLOBAL warming has accelerated and the carbon emitted this century will continue to warm the Earth for more than a thousand years, according to the scientific advice commissioned by the world's governments. Research has shown rainfall will increase in the tropics over this century. But it is likely rainfall will diminish in the regions near the tropics, which includes most of the inhabited parts of Australia. The reductions in rainfall due to global warming could be as much as 20 per cent under some of the scenarios the working group finds plausible. The updated expert scientific advice for the meeting is considerably more confident that global warming is caused by man-made emissions of greenhouse gases. The best assessment for the last climate change panel meeting put the likelihood at more than 66 per cent that human activity was to blame. But the scientists now assert it is more than a 90 per cent likelihood, say sources familiar with the confidential advice. The likelihood of a continuing global trend to more warm days and fewer cold ones is rated greater than 99 per cent. Research on the physical science of climate change, prepared by 49 of the foremost experts, finds warming caused by carbon emissions increased by 20 per cent in the past 10 years, the fastest in at least 500 years. The scientists predict that the average global temperature will rise by 0.2 degrees in each of the next two decades, double the rate of warming that would have occurred if greenhouse outputs had been stabilised at 2000 levels. The advice to the governments says man-made carbon dioxide emissions already under way in the 21st century - even if they were to cease at the end of the century - will continue to exert a warming effect for more than a thousand years because it takes time for the gas to leave the Earth. Among other effects the scientists predict are that sea ice will shrink in the Arctic and Antarctic under all plausible scenarios, extremes including heatwaves will continue to become more frequent and snow cover will contract. There are projected to be fewer tropical cyclones, but their intensity will grow. In a projection less troubling than the previous report, the scientists now believe the rise in the sea level will be smaller. The scientists are uncertain of the strength of the feedback effects that will accompany global warming - that is, its propensity to be self-perpetuating. We're to blame for a sick planet, The industries responsible must be replaced with programs such as those which can be produced from the Panacea centre.Since 2001, on the state of scientific knowledge on global warming, a leaked draft copy of the report has detailed the main thrusts of the finding and includes how scientists have now found the connection between man-made carbon emissions and global warming, proving once and for all that human activity is changing the world. Scientists have also debunked the myth that global warming is simply a global cycle, saying that according to its cycle the earth should be in a period of cooling, not warming. "It is highly likely (greater than 95 per cent probability) that the warming observed during the past half century cannot be explained without external forcing human activity," the draft says. And while the naysayers might dismiss the findings as a conspiratorial hoax, the IPCC is traditionally regarded as being conservative, with a preference for erring on the side of caution. Its assessment could not be more damning. Eleven of the earth's 12 warmest years since 1850 have occurred since 1995; Indications are the earth's temperature will rise 3C by 2100, possibly as much as 6C. This could be catastrophic, with a similar temperature shift marking the last ice age 12,000 years ago. It is virtually certain (99 per cent probability) that carbon dioxide levels and global warming is far above the range in the atmosphere over the past 650,000 years. It is virtually certain that human activity has played the dominant role in this. It is likely that human activity is responsible for other observed changes to the earth, such as ocean warming and melting of the Arctic sea ice. The IPCC report revealed climate change could be far worse than previously thought. With The Mercury and AFP. A draft UN report concluded that global warming will unleash bouts of extreme heat, drought and rainfall and make typhoons and hurricanes more violent by 2100. Climate damage is 'inevitable' , EVEN an immediate reduction in greenhouse gas emissions would not halt catastrophic damage to Australia's environment, a federal government researcher has warned.A grim report commissioned by the NSW Government, the CSIRO said it expected Sydney's maximum temperatures to rise 1.6C by 2030 and 4.8C by 2070.Average rainfall will decrease by 40 per cent and water evaporation rates will jump 24 per cent by 2040 under the scorching conditions. By 2050, annual heat-related deaths of people over 65 will increase almost eight times from 176 to 1312. The report's author, CSIRO researcher Ben Preston, predicted temperatures would continue to rise causing drought, flooding and heat waves. "What's important for people to understand is that this is not simply a lot of hand-waving, there's quite a bit of scientific research and effort both within Australia and internationally that goes into producing these estimates," Dr Preston said on ABC radio. "And the problem there is that future climate change is already built into the system. "So the warming we've been experiencing in recent years is really a function of greenhouse gases we emitted a few decades ago. "Although there's a promise that large-scale reductions in future greenhouse gas emissions on the international basis will forestall ... large-scale warming by the end of the century, we've already sort of committed ourselves to additional warming and downstream climate change and consequences over the next few decades." He said that while past climate change was "natural in origin", the world's population is now living a "climate of our own making". "We have to look at this as sort of long-term preventive care for the environment," Dr Preston said. "Reducing emissions over the next couple of years isn't going to prevent any sort of climate catastrophe from occurring over the near term." But measures to combat climate change should go ahead, which meant burning fewer fossil fuels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. And proposed measures to battle the long-standing drought would be crucial to weathering the shortage in more extreme climate conditions. Energy is the main contributor to greenhouse gas. The production and use of energy in Australia provides 69% - the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions and is the greatest contributor to global warming.[Source: CSIRO and Media Release from World Wildlife Foundation, 15 December 2006] Further- Our existence on this planet is precarious. Modern industrial agriculture is destroying the earth:Desertification, water scarcity, toxic cocktails of agricultural chemicals pervading our food chains, ocean ecosystem collapse, soil erosion and massive loss of soil fertility. Our ecosystems ore overwhelmed. Humanity's increasing demands are exceeding the Earth's carrying capacity. A simple recipe to save the world? What does an environmentally friendly biodynamic food system capable of feeding everyone actually look like? This film is a blueprint for a post-industrial future. It takes you into the heart of the world's most important renaissance. The outcome of the battle for agricultural control in India may just dictate the future of the earth. -End
Future legislation towards the conservation of ECO housing designs via the building code, and the curriculum needs to be addressed by the public. This can be done via Panacea's direct intervention. Please sign the petition here to support and address this directly. Further cack round reading on Eco sustainability can been found in our Sustainable ECO-friendly communities links. The following research and development towards sustainable development has adapted many new innovative insights to logically address the conservation of the themes mentioned. Panacea will out line already proven and established sustainable development research which needs further awareness, grant support and RECOGNITION from YOU to attain the desired results. The contents are relative to ecological housing design, the curriculum, economy and environmental sustainability which benefit YOU and are structured in a factual order comprising the themes of: 1) Eco housing Design 2) Hemp production for 3rd world and western countries 3) Organic eco farming and new menus 4) Curriculum Amendment 5) ALTERNATIVE ENERGY If you are a member of the general public, or an organization which feels can offer support, donation or can contribute to the success and implementation of these goals please contact Panacea and PLEASE sign the petition. |
